Thanks to our Merciful God and Happy Sunday:-) I wanted to share a few things with you as I consider what it means to fully surrender my life and my keyboard to God our Savior. First, I know that we are in the midst of early 'adjustment' but I am having a wonderful time!
Occasionally, I bang my head against the door (on the inside) as I try to sort out the best way to 'be there' for all four of my children in the ways that I want to. They are just such amazing people and I so enjoy participating in all that they want to share with me!
All of us have been somewhat challenged in trying to meet the desires for information on behalf of others while simultaneously huddling in as a new family together. I'm going to address a few of these akward communication scenarios here in this form because attempting to do so in the presence of our children is unacceptable. Thanks for understanding that.
On Child Trafficking. It's a deplorable practice initiated by criminals and untruthfully promoted as common. In compliance with the Hague Treaty for Inter country Adoption both the United States and China are cooperative and have ratified this treaty for the protection of all families and children. The process to prove that a registered child is utterly abandoned is lengthy. The process to allow such a child to be joined with a family outside of the sending country is arduous.
Despicably those who take advantage of an abandoned child by using them for panhandling or slave labor or worse are with us in this world. There are other atrocious acts against impoverished families that also happen infrequently around the world to the benefit of other dark hearted criminals. We in no way enable, condone or tolerate such deplorable and hateful treatment of children. On behalf of every adopting parent I know I would like to state for the record, "Please do not believe the half truths and innuendo regarding the legality of legitimate adoption. Whether it be domestic or intercountry. There are hundreds of thousands of children around this globe who are homeless and desperate. Everyone hear us. Work together for ethical and efficient adoption practices so that more of these children will know the hope of a family and survival. Do not be distracted from their horrendous reality by politically loaded propaganda and inflated statistics. Be intentional be informed. If you want country by country details check out your state department website or the joint coucil for international children's services. Don't be afraid to care and do something to help them. Welcome these children. Support and encourage these families. Celebrate that a life has been saved and a family has been blessed."
On Gates's health and previous living conditions. We have no information on the intentions of those who cared for Gates but yes, he was starved, deprived of normal interaction and restrained. He spent as much as ten hours a day in a crib or tethered. This would have continued at night as well. We cannot comment on why this occurred but we are aware that conditions of extreme poverty, a child's ill health and the impossible caregiver to child ratios in such institutions make it difficult for a child to endure. Often times swaddling and tethering is considered safer for the child. We feel gratitude in our hearts for Gates's survival. I am confident that sprinkled throughout his young life there were some who cared for him. Paul and I choose not to speculate but rather to praise God!
On our adoption process. By the Hand of God, since China travel, our adoption of Gates is completed. It is complete and legal on two continents and resulting in the permanent American Citizenship and Sonship of Mr. William Gates Rudd. All of his identifying paperwork: health records, birth certificate, final adoption decree... all that had to be done was completed for the USA and the PRC before Paul left China. The only paperwork we have at this point is the same as for any other new addition; social security card. If we choose to we can have a 're adoption' or 'state authentication of adoption' done which basically says that the State of Florida formally accepts the jurisdiction of the Federal Government of the United States of America and the People's Republic of China in pronouncing this adoption final. Then they give us a 'certificate of foreign birth'. Many families never bother with this state imposed and expensive formality, we'll do it at some point just because when Gates gets his driver's lic. he's not going to want to deal with waiting for a supervisor to approve his Chinese Birth Certificate and Translation. At least he won't if he's anything like Mamma who will put an item back rather than wait on the price check at the register with people lining up behind me.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment